Six-time Pacific League batting champion Ichiro Suzuki will be out of the Orix BlueWave lineup for three to four weeks with a bruised muscle in his side, officials of the Pacific League club revealed late Sunday evening.
Suzuki was taken out of Orix's 12-inning draw with Lotte in the fifth inning Sunday evening after feeling a pain in his right side near his armpit. He was examined at a Kobe hospital and doctors there said he will need three to four weeks to recover completely.
Suzuki, 26, who is better known in Japan by his first name "Ichiro," will be removed from the team's active roster, manager Akira Ogi said.
Suzuki, having played in all 104 games for Orix thus far this season, is currently batting .387 with 12 home runs and 73 runs batted in.